Kažimír: I see the eurozone as the driving force of European integration

Slovak Finance Minister Peter Kažimír confirmed on November 30 that he would run for the post of the head of the group of eurozone finance ministers, the Eurogroup. The Finance Ministry confirmed that he submitted the application, the TASR newswire reported.

In total, there are four candidates to replace Jeroen Dijsselbloem. Apart from Kažimír these are Luxembourg finance minister, Pierre Gramegna, Latvia’s Dana Reizniece-Ozola and Portugal’s Mário Centeno, while the latter is seen as the front-runner for the job.

Kažimír is seen as a strong contender due to his popularity among Europe’s centre-right, the Financial Times writes. He has taken a hard line on the conditions that should be attached to Greece’s bailouts and has championed prudent fiscal policy.

The Slovak minister said he would push ambitious reforms to the governance of the single currency and “build bridges” to EU nations outside the currency bloc.

“I see #Eurozone as engine of European #integration,” he tweeted." Europe’s diversity is our strength – we’re one community and my ambition is to integrate euro ‘ins’ & ‘outs’, build bridges."